Introduction to Multilingual Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Crossroads for sustainability
1. CROSSROADS FOR SUSTAINABILITY:
SILO OR SYSTEMS APPROACH?
Sarah James
Co-Director, Institute for Ecomunicipalities
Cambridge, MA
www.instituteforecomunicipalities
4. Time is running out
• …”We have a very brief window of opportunity to deal
with climate change…no more than a decade at most.”
(Director, NASA Goddard Center)
• 10-30% of species threatened with extinction due to
human actions (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)
• To attain sustainability, we need to reduce energy and
resource consumption by 90 % (Wuppertal Institute)
7. Eco-municipality Accomplishments
Healthy
communities
Green building
Community revitalization
Alternatives to cars
Eco-teams
Using waste as a resource
Historic preservation
8. City of Umeå – 95 % fossil fuel
reduction
• 100,000 pop.
• Heat & power
generated from city
solid waste
• Dramatic reduction in
city landfill & fuel
costs
• Heat & power plant –
99.5% efficiency rate
Bikes & pedestrians only - no cars -
in Umeå’s city center.
9. Town of Övertorneå – first eco-
municipality in Sweden
•Created over 300
sustainable micro-enterprises
•Reversed downward
economy to thriving
sustainable economy
•Region became national
center for organic
agriculture
•National recognition as
healthiest community in
Sweden
•Municipal government is
100% free of fossil fuels in
its operations
13. Keys to Systems Success
• Training of municipal staff in use of
sustainability objectives
• Systematic use of common sustainability
objectives throughout government &
community
• Strategic, participatory implementation
approach
15. The Eco-municipality
Sustainability Objectives
• Also the four guiding sustainability
objectives of APA’s Planning for
Sustainability Policy Guide (2000)
• Officially adopted by elected officials as
guiding municipal policy
• Based upon science & natural laws
• Derived from the Natural Step’s system
conditions for a sustainable society
16. 1. Use approaches that
S3
reduce dependence on
fossil fuels, underground
.
metals, minerals.
PV solar panels at Warwick
Veterans High School, Warwick, RI
Photo credit: RI State Energy Office
Hull, MA Wind Turbine
Non-phosphorus detergents
Commuting via Minuteman
Bike Path, Cambridge-
Bedford, MA
18. 2. Use approaches that reduce
dependence upon synthetic
chemicals and other
unnatural substances.
CT first state to ban pesticide/ herbicide
use on school grounds
Chemical-free dry cleaning,
Arlington, MA
19. 3. Use approaches that reduce
encroachment upon nature.
GreenZone Eco-Business Park, Umea
Green roof at a Harvard dorm
Narragansett, RI LEED
Platinum home Photo credit: USGBCRI
20. 4. Use approaches that meet human needs
fairly & efficiently.
White Gate Farm, East Lyme, CT
Photo credit: www.farmfresh.org
Green & affordable housing, Erie-Ellington
Homes, Dorchester, MA
21. The Eco-municipality
Sustainability Objectives
Use approaches that…
1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels,
underground metals & minerals.
2. Reduce dependence upon synthetic
chemicals & other unnatural substances.
3. Reduce encroachment upon nature (land,
water, wildlife, forests, soils).
4. Meet human needs (ours and future
generations) fairly & efficiently.
22. THE 4 SUSTAINABILITY
OBJECTIVES
A Municipal Tree The Systems Approach,
using the sustainability
objectives
23. Official Endorsement
of Sustainability Objectives
• City council & mayor
• Board of Supervisors
• Board of Selectmen
24. Sustainability education –
municipal employees and citizens
Trained 1000s of municipal
staff
Community sustainability
education
• Creates shared
understanding of
sustainability and
principles
• All staff - and citizens -
“rowing in the same
direction”
25. Participation in Sustainable
Strategy Development
• Department staff who
do the work are the
“experts”
• Community residents
are “experts” about
living in the
community
• Local institutions
28. The Different Phases of a Transition
System
Change
Stabilization
Acceleration
Time
Rene Kemp, Jan Rotmans, Managing Societal Transitions, 2003
29. Eco-municipalities in the U.S.
Ashland
Washburn
Bayfield
Red Cliff Tribe
Bad River Tribe
Chequamegon Bay Region, WI
City of Madison, WI
Concord, MA
Lawrence
Township, NJ City of Portsmouth, NH
Photo credit: tripadvisor.com
30. U.S. Eco-municipality Initiatives
June, 2005 – present
Official Resolutions: Emerging:
City of Ashland, WI Baraboo, WI Lawrence Township, NJ
City of Bayfield, WI City of Beloit, WI Vandergrift, PA
Town of Bayfield, WI Village of Colfax, WI Corvallis, OR
City of Washburn, WI Town of Cottage Grove, WI
City of Madison, WI City of Eau Claire, WI
City of Duluth, MN City of Manitowoc, WI
Village of Johnson City of Menasha, WI
Creek, WI Town of Menasha, WI
City of Marshfield, WI City of Sheboyan WI
City of La Crosse, WI City of Spring Green, WI
City of Marshfield, WI City of Wausau, WI
Douglas County, WI Portsmouth, NH
Dunn County, WI Concord, MA
La Crosse County, WI Cable, WI
City of Neenah, WI
Stevens Point, WI
Web sites: www.1kfriends.org/Eco-Municipalities.htm
www/instituteforecomunicipalities.org; go to Ecomunicipalities Page
32. The Natural Step
for Communities:
How Cities & Towns Can
Change to Sustainable
Practices
by
Sarah James &
Torbjörn Lahti
www.newsocietypublishers.com
33. Open Planning
for Sustainability
by
Sarah James & Philip Herr
The “how-to” manual
for guiding a
community-based
sustainable planning downloadable at:
process www.lulu.com
34. Institute for Eco- Municipality
Education & Assistance
Sarah James
Co-Director
sjames@post.harvard.edu
Torbjorn Lahti
Co-Director
torbjorn@esam.se
www.instituteforecomunicipalities.org
